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No.2.
Chastening v. Condemnation
(I Cor. 11: 31, 32).
pp. 237 - 240
In our preliminary inquiry, I Cor. 11: 31, 32 was quoted without comment. Let us
take this passage as a starting point for the examination of the whole issue.
"If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we
are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world."
The immediate occasion for these solemn words was the attitude of the believer to the
Lord's Supper, and inasmuch as the dispensation of the Mystery does not include the
memorial feast of the New Covenant, we may at first feel that this passage can have no
bearing upon us. There is, however, an underlying principle governing this adjuration
which can apply to other occasions where present personal judgment of self may save
future scrutiny. Let us observe the context of these verses. The epistle as a whole can be
set out as follows:
I Corinthians as a whole
A | 1: 1-9. Waiting for the coming of the Lord.
B | 1: 10 - 4: 21. "It hath been declared unto me."
C | 5: 1 - 14: 40. The body, physically,
spiritually,
ecclesiastically.
B | 15: 1. "I declared unto you."
A | 16: Maranatha. The Lord cometh.
It will be seen that chapter 11: falls within the great central section, where "the body",
whether the body be the physical body of the believer, the body viewed as an instrument
for service, or the body used to illustrate the constitution of the church which possessed
as a body does its members, the spiritual gifts which were the character of the
dispensation then obtaining. This great inner section opens with chapters 5: 1 - 6: 20
the body physically, and closes with 11: 2 - 14: 40 the body ecclesiastically. Now in the
opening section, we have a case of immorality. The Apostle pronounces judgment upon
the offender saying:
"For verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I
were present, concerning him that hath done this deed, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus
Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit
may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (I Cor. 5: 3-5).
Here we have a passage that not only corresponds in the structure with the verses
quoted at the head of this article, but which illustrates the Apostle's words there